Film School Blog - New York Film Academy

Indian Summer Selected For PBS Film Fest

Published on March 6, 2013

Mridu Chandra

Indian Summer, a documentary about a Hindu summer camp, was selected for the PBS Online Film Festival. The film was directed by New York Film Academy documentary professor, Mridu Chandra, and shot by NYFA doc. prof., Eliana Alvarez.

“I’m very proud that my short documentary Indian Summer has been selected by PBS & the Center for Asian American Media to participate in its 2013 PBS Online Film Festival,” said Chandra. “It is screening online this month from March 4th to March 22nd. The festival showcases 25 short films, and the film with the most number of votes will receive the People’s Choice Award.”

Chandra’s films have already premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and SXSW, aired on national PBS, screened for members of US Congress and the United Nations, and been showcased at Museums and film festivals worldwide. Indian Summer is the first in a trilogy of short films about Indian American culture. To read more about the series visit: mriduchandra.com

Watch the documentary and vote here: http://www.pbs.org/filmfestival/all-films/indian-summer/

Watch 2013 Festival | Indian Summer on PBS. See more from PBS Online Film Festival.

Join NYFA in Milan and Florence!

Published on March 5, 2013

Screen Shot 2013-03-05 at 10.45.15 AM The New York Film Academy will be in Italy conducting Information Sessions, Workshops and Auditions for potential students interested in attending the school. The event will take place March 7^th in Milan at the UNA Hotel Cusani and March 9^th in Florence at Piazza San Lorenzo, 2.

NYFA currently offers short-term and one year programs in Florence, Italy at the same event location, Piazza San Lorenzo, 2.

We found many talents,” said NYFA’s Diana Santi in response to her last visit to Italy. “Not only in acting, but also in filmmaking, producing, and screenwriting. I think of Alexia Oldini, who just shot her first feature film here in New York and Jacopo Sarno who is currently a working actor in Italy.”

Milan

UNA Hotel Cusani
Via Cusani, 13
20121 Milano, Italy

March 7th, 2013
4:00pm – 7:00pm

March 7th, 2013
7:30pm – 8:30pm

Auditions

Information Session

Florence

Piazza San Lorenzo, 2
50123 Florence

March 9th, 2013
1:00pm – 5:00pm

March 9th, 2013
5:30pm – 6:30pm

March 9th, 2013
6:30pm – 7:30pm

Auditions

Acting Workshop

Information Session

For more information and specific times about the Italy tour, please contact joey.zangardi@nyfa.edu or visit: http://www.nyfa.edu/nyfa-on-the-road/.

Linshan Zhao Screens ‘The Assassins’

Published on March 1, 2013

Director Linshan Zhao at New York Film Academy in Union Square

This Thursday, the New York Film Academy welcomed Chinese director, Linshan Zhao, to screen his film The Assassins. The Chinese historical drama stars Chow Yun-fat as Cao Cao, a prominent warlord who became the de facto head of government in China towards the end of the Han Dynasty. Being that the film has yet to be released in the United States, our students were in for a rare cinematic treat.

Having ten years of commercial directing under his belt, Zhao had been writing a screenplay for four years. Once producers got their hands on his script, they knew it needed to be made. With that, Zhao raised nearly eighteen million dollars to shoot what would become his first feature film, The Assassins. “It has always been my dream,” said Zhao “Since I was little, I wanted to be a director, and that was my biggest inspiration.”

Zhao’s next steps are to release the film all over the world, starting with Asian countries and working his way toward North America. He’s also working on his next project, My Super Ex, based on a popular Chinese Twitter feed. Zhao jokingly commented on how we all have those stories from past relationships, and he’s willing to hear them all to help shape his next film.

Louis Mole Talks About NYFA’s Documentary Program

Published on February 28, 2013

Documentary graduate, Louis Mole, sits down with us to discuss his experience at New York Film Academy.

“It is such a hands-on intensive course, and it really drills into every single aspect of the filmmaking program from directing to producing, photography, and editing.” said Louis Mole. “You come out of the program with the fundamental expertise of every single aspect of making a film – which is so unique.”

Immediately after graduating the New York Film Academy, Louis went to Singapore and worked on 2 series. One of which was Asian Swindlers, a six part series about Asian conmen, in which Louis wrote 3 episodes and oversaw the edit.

After Singapore, Louis came back to New York where he currently works for the production company behind the Sundance Grand Jury Prize Winning Documentary, The House I Live In.

The Girl Next Door

Published on February 26, 2013

Andrea Picco

With 5 years of college education and some work in television and media, Andrea Picco was looking for a school that focused on the hands-on experience and not just theory. “I first enrolled in the 4 week digital filmmaking class just to see how I would like the school and if it really was what I was looking for,” said Andrea. “The very first day we were already out shooting! Those 4 weeks were the longest of my life. I wrote, directed, casted and shot 2 short films and a short documentary. In the process, I learned everything about digital cameras, film vocabulary, menu setting, lenses, proper lighting, F-stops, etc.”

After finishing the documentary, Andrea decided to enroll in the one year documentary class. “Looking back, I know it was the right decision. New York Film Academy is a place where you can become a filmmaker within a year – if you take it seriously and work hard. It is no nonsense. The equipment they provide is great and updated. The staff is very helpful and friendly. The Head of the Documentary Department, Andrea Swift, is absolutely amazing, passionate and inspiring. We had producers, filmmakers, production companies and even Discovery Channel executives come to our classes. Our thesis editing supervisor was Bob Eisenhardt.”

While enrolled in the One Year Documentary Class, Andrea Picco knew she wanted to produce her thesis film on a story related to human trafficking. After filming a promo video for a non-profit in 2008, she met a woman who was a survivor of human trafficking. Andrea shortly became friends with the woman and was soon on her way to Ohio to film what would become her thesis film.

The Girl Next Door is a story of redemption and empowerment.”When you first hear about ‘Human Trafficking’ you usually think it only happens overseas in 3rd world countries, but we don’t usually think about American kids and teens.” The film tells the story of how Theresa survived two years of sex trafficking in the suburbs of Detroit and how she overcame her past to became an abolitionist.

Andrea’s film has been to four film festivals and has won two awards. She plans to turn her short film into a full feature. Andrea is also planning to start filming a documentary about the human trafficking business in Corona, Queens. As Andrea says, “Great stories are easy to find when you keep your heart and eyes open.”

Oscar-Winning Cinematographer and Veteran Actor Visit NYFA Students

Published on February 25, 2013

Oscar-winning cinematographer Haskell Wexler speaks to students

Haskell Wexler recently visited students at New York Film Academy’s Los Angeles campus. The 91-year-old cinematographer was named as one of the ten most influential cinematographers by the International Cinematographers Guild. In the course of his career, he lensed such seminal films as One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, In the Heat of the Night, American Graffiti, and The Thomas Crown Affair. He has been nominated for a total of 5 Oscars, and has won two.

Wexler watched clips of cinematography students’ films, and gave them valuable feedback. “It was an amazing experience to have him share his thoughts and experience with us,” said Diego Gilly, an MFA Cinematography student. “I feel deeply honored to have had the opportunity to share some of our work with him, and hear what he had to say.”

Actor Robert Forster leads a master class for actors

Oscar-nominated actor Robert Forster, who starred in 1969’s Medium Cool, written and directed by Haskell Wexler, also recently paid a visit to New York Film Academy. In addition to his numerous television roles, Forster is known for his roles in Mulholland Drive, Me, Myself, & Irene, The Descendants, and his Oscar-nominated role in Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown.

Forster led a master class for acting students, telling stories from his life and career, answering questions, and giving advice. “The camera looks real deep into you,” he said. “It knows whether you’re lying or not. If you want your audience to admire you, you have to be someone they can admire. You have to have the qualities that make a person worth admiring. Then it’s easy to deliver that on screen.”

A New Look at Old Photos

Published on February 22, 2013

A photograph of NYFA students taken by recent guest, Luther Gerlach

New York Film Academy is proud to host industry leaders as guests in classrooms on a normal basis. In this article by photo instructor Kathleen Laraia McLaughlin, she shares the story of a recent guest to the Los Angeles campus, one of a small handful of photographers who specializes in wet-plate photographic processes.

Luther Gerlach has been making images using historical processes for over thirty years, and he makes them big! With these processes, big means big negatives – and not made from the computer using transparency paper. He uses large format cameras (8×10 inch through 30×40 inch) and lenses dating from 1850 to 1940, which he has been collecting and restoring for many years.

The wet-plate photographic process dates from 1851. For tintypes, he uses black sheet metal bought from a trophy manufacturer (it’s clean and painted black – which is necessary for the negative image to show up). For ambrotypes, he uses clear, ruby, and royal blue glass. Both of these processes show the image in reverse because they are negative images – only made ‘positive’ from their dark backgrounds.

One of the terrific qualities Luther has is how open he is. He opens his home for students, shares his historical collection of daguerreotypes and wet plate images, and makes a 12″x20″ tintype group photo using his mobile dark room – a truck. He’s generous with explaining the process and it’s clear he is one of the most knowledgeable people on this format. We like Luther.

Interested in learning photography? Find out how!

Sci-Fly Selected for SXSW

Published on February 21, 2013

Screen Shot 2013-02-21 at 11.22.54 AM

Congratulations to Joey Shanks for having his film Sci-Fly selected into this year’s South by Southwest Film Festival and Slamdance! Joey is a graduate of New York Film Academy’s six week filmmaking course at Harvard.

“I had a great experience at NYFA,” says Joey. “Having never been on a real film set, I learned a lot of the basics that you can only learn from being around a film set. What to do and most importantly what not to do. The teachers were great, and I feel proud that I have three 16mm films under my belt. You don’t meet many filmmakers now-a-days who have shot on film.”

Joey launched a KickStarter campaign for Sci-Fly last June and raised over $10,000. The film received attention from PBS, who collaborated with him on a YouTube series called Shanks FX. The series explores the creative process in creating the visuals for his film, Sci-Fly. As of now, there are almost 5,000 followers of the series, and several episodes have been featured by popular web blogs like No Film School and Gizmodo.

“I’ve always been a big believer in practical effects. Capturing visual effects ‘in camera’ is starting to become an afterthought. Sci-Fly’s main goal was to create a journey solely on experimenting with new techniques that we had never done before. Those new methods would shift the storytelling arch. Sci-Fly would evolve organically, just like the effects created.

Italian Video Competition for NYFA Florence Scholarship

Published on February 20, 2013

florence-small-pix The Italian Ministry of Education in collaboration with the New York Film Academy and Mecenate 90, announce the first edition of “La Tua Città in Primo Piano” (“Your Town Up Close”). The initiative is a video contest open to all Italian private and public high school students, in order to promote film culture, the development of new creative expressions and enhance the artistic talents of a younger generation.

There will be two competitive sections: the first, “Nuovi registi in città” (“New Directors in the City”) addressed to individual students who will try to achieve a commercial (a video lasting a minimum of 30 seconds to a maximum of 3 minutes.) The video can be any theme, as long as it presents an important aspect of their city. The second is “Una scena per la tua città” (“A Scene For Your City”) addressed to the teachers to shoot a video with their classes. The topic of this video is an adaptation of a famous movie scene shot in Italy.

The students will be able to upload their videos on: http://www.latuacittainprimopiano.it/

Students can then share their videos via social media in order to get as many votes and as much exposure as possible.

The ten videos with the most votes will be considered the finalists and a committee, consisting of representatives from NYFA and the Ministry, will select the winner. The winner will receive a scholarship for a 4 week filmmaking workshop and accommodation at the New York Film Academy in Florence.

NYFA Alum and Military Veteran Featured on NPR

Published on February 18, 2013

New York Film Academy student Paquita Hughes was recently featured on NPR as part of a series on veterans in Hollywood. She served for 8 years as an air traffic controller in the Navy. After finishing, she decided to pursue her dream of making films.

Paquita is one of hundreds of veterans who choose to study at New York Film Academy. She completed a One-Year Filmmaking program in 2012, and is currently enrolled in a One-Year Photography program at the school’s Los Angeles campus. See Paquita share her story in the video below.